Disclosed herein are a method and apparatus for configuring an image production device.
To increase the efficiency of a supply chain, it is advantageous to ship only one manufactured product for multiple sold products (i.e., customer end items). In conventional supply chains, multiple products, such as image production devices, are shipped from a manufacturer or distributer for multiple end items that contain different features (e.g., different speeds, fax enabled, software features, print drivers, security features and scan to e-mail features, etc.).
However, this process is costly as it requires a vendor, distributer, or manufacturer to carry a large, space consuming, and costly inventory of devices to meet customers' demands for specific devices with specific features. Alternatively, the manufacturer may customize each machine for each customer (or a majority of their customers) which is slow, time consuming, and costly.